SACRAMENTO — Federal health officials are currently searching for the cause of what is set to be California''s worst pertussis, or whooping cough, outbreak in the last 50 years in hopes that the information may be able to slow the disease''s transmission, according to a press release.

There are two major possibilities for the cause of the outbreak, which was detected in March: First, there is the possibility that, because of safety concerns, parents have stopped fully vaccinating their children, the release stated.

Experts also believe that doctors may have ceased to offer full vaccinations because of remuneration concerns, the release noted.

According to the release, the Department of Public Health has declared that California is facing an epidemic as opposed to simply the resurgence of a once controllable disease: There have been more than 1,490 cases of pertussis since 2010 began, with another 700 under investigation.